MURFREESBORO — MTSU
announced Friday (April 19) that it will purchase the former Middle Tennessee
Medical Center site near downtown Murfreesboro.

The university will pay $11.1 million for the 17.4-acre
site, which includes:

The 115,000-square-foot
Bell Street Building;

A 143,000-square-foot
parking garage with 407 parking spaces;

Surface parking with 188
spaces;

A large green-space area
that was the site of the old main hospital building (surrounded by East
Bell Street; North Highland Avenue; East Lytle Street; and North
University Street.)

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and Gordon Ferguson,
president and CEO of Middle Tennessee Medical Center, marked the pending change
of ownership in a ceremony at the Bell Street Building, attended by
administrators from both institutions and community leaders.

“For nearly 85 years, our two campuses anchored the east
side of Murfreesboro and served for much of that time as two of largest
employers in our community,” McPhee said. “But we shared much more than
proximity and size – our two organizations also share many common values.

“Today’s ceremony
marks the next step in that relationship and underscores the importance we
place on serving the needs of our students and the community.”

MTMC has been looking for a buyer for its old hospital site
since its move into a $267 million state-of-the-art medical campus in October
2010. Its 70-acre site on Medical Center Parkway is more than four times larger
than its old location, which was where the hospital was established in 1927.

“We continued a legacy of innovation and advancement at our
Bell Street location, serving the community with outstanding medical care,” Ferguson
said. “With the sale of this land, we pass along that legacy to our partner
MTSU as they now grow and create new opportunities for our community.”

McPhee said the university will use the Bell Street
Building for academic purposes. However, he said final decisions on which units
and operations will occupy the space have yet to be determined.

“Once we acquire the property, we will determine the best
and most appropriate use for the facility,” McPhee said. “It will be used for
academic purposes and, while we are considering several options, we have yet to
make a final decision on what would be best at that location.”

University spokesman Andrew Oppmann said the Bell Street
Building will require some renovations to change its usage from medical to
academic.

“We will need to determine what work needs to be done and
how long that work will take – all of which will factor into our decisions on
how the facility will be used,” he said.

Oppmann said the university currently has no plans for the
old hospital lot and that area will remain open green space for the foreseeable
future.

McPhee said the university will be “good stewards of this
facility and good neighbors to our community and use it to better serve our
students and the people of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County.”

“We are extremely proud to have worked with Gordon and his
staff, Lee (Moss, chairman of the MTMC Board of Directors) and the hospital
board and the entire Saint Thomas Health Services family to make this a
reality,” McPhee said.

About MTSU

Founded in 1911 as
one of three state normal schools for teacher training, MTSU is now the oldest
and largest public university in Middle Tennessee. With an enrollment of more
than 25,000 students, MTSU is the largest undergraduate university in
Tennessee.

MTSU remains
committed to providing individualized service in an exciting and nurturing
atmosphere where student success is the top priority. With a wide variety of
nationally recognized academic degree programs at the baccalaureate, master's
and doctoral levels, MTSU takes pride in educating the best and the brightest
students from Tennessee and around the world.

About Middle Tennessee Medical
Center

Middle Tennessee Medical Center (MTMC)
is a member of Saint Thomas Health, Middle Tennessee’s faith-based,
not-for-profit health care system with more than 6,500 associates. Saint Thomas
Health is focused on transforming the health care experience and helping people
live healthier lives, with special attention to the poor and vulnerable. The regional
health system includes — Baptist Hospital, Saint Thomas Hospital and The
Hospital for Spinal Surgery in Nashville, Middle Tennessee Medical Center in
Murfreesboro and Hickman Community Hospital in Centerville — and a
comprehensive network of affiliated joint ventures, medical practices, clinics
and rehabilitation facilities. Saint Thomas Health is a member of Ascension
Health, a Catholic organization that is the largest not-for-profit health
system in the United States For more information, visit www.mtmc.org or www.sths.com.

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